I Didn't Say It ....

Tom Payne, whose Walking Dead character Jesus came out as gay last March, but whose sexual orientation was dropped after that:

“It’s been so amazing to be a part of that community and to give visibility as a gay character on one of the biggest television shows ever. It was an amazing responsibility, and I was happy to take it on. But I was disappointed it wasn’t in there more. It wasn’t ever even explicitly mentioned. [Jesus’ sexual orientation] was just one scene with Lauren in season seven. The right people picked up on it; they did recognize it. But you can find people who still don’t realize Jesus was gay. I think they could have been a bit more up front about that. [But] while you’ve lost Jesus, you still have Aaron and Tara, and now Magna and Yumiko, so there’s still representation on the show. But it’s a shame. He was such a badass character. They could have made more of it. It’s really Robert Kirkman who was so amazing to do it in the comic books. I was super excited to play that. I wish they made a bigger deal of it. But other storylines take precedent, I guess.”

You don’t score points from me by announcing that a character is gay in one episode and then effectively putting them back into the closet the next.

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Hugh Jackman, and his huge ackman, on those rumors that he’s gay, and how he thinks they started when he played singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz:

“I was literally just locking lips [with a man on stage] … I started to laugh so hard. So I stay kissing him, because I thought, ‘I’m just going to laugh. I’m going to stay here until it subsides’ and it never subsided and the whole audience could see my body shaking, so they started [laughing as well].”

Nice story, Hugh, but I heard the gay rumors long before Oz came out.

I’m not saying you’re gay, though one part of me …which part is that? … wishes you were.

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_____, on what he was thankful for on Thanksgiving:

“For having a great family, and for having made a tremendous difference in this country. I’ve made a tremendous difference in this country. This country is so much stronger now than when I took office you wouldn’t believe it. I mean you see it, but so much stronger that people can’t even believe it.”

For having a great band of criminals, grifters, cheats, frauds, adulterers and liars to follow in Daddy’s footstep.

And he has changed the country; people laugh at us now; people hate us now; we’re falling by the wayside, so he and his mob family can enrich themselves.

I want prison for all of them … except maybe Barron and Tiffany.

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Hillary Clinton, on how _____ uses Fox News to create the alternative realities—the actual Fake News—that his minions believe:

“One of the ways you do that is by consistently attacking the press. Now [Trump] doesn’t attack Fox News, because they’re like a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump and the Republican party now. So he attacks the press and the broadcast media that raise questions about him, that don’t give him fidelity and loyalty. That he was on the front page of the New York Times is more important to him that any substance because he thinks he can defeat substance, which he has proven successful in doing. You watch Fox News, it’s always, ‘Something terrible is about to happen’, ‘Something terrible did happen’, ‘These people are doing all these awful things’. It is totally divorced from reality, but it is superb propaganda. I don’t know the best way to puncture that. You have to hope that reality catches up with politics and entertainment at some point.”

I’ll give him that much; _____knows how to work his little lapdog, Fox News, to enrage his base about whatever, or whomever, he’s pissy about at any given moment.

Too bad Hillary let a lot of that slide during the campaign.

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Leah Remini, who is taking on the Cult of Scientology, on the group’s golden boy, Tommy Cruise, and how he isn’t so innocent when it comes to the brutalities of that cult:

“Where Tom is concerned … He is very aware of the abuses that go on in Scientology. He’s been part of it. He’s best friends with David Miscavige, so he’s privy to the punishments that David Miscavige doles out, and I’ve been told by a senior executive of Scientology, who was there, that David Miscavige constantly threatened the staff at Gold Base with bringing Tom Cruise to Gold Base to kick their fucking asses.”

Leah ALLEGES that a Scientology official told her that Tommy once “personally administered” punishment on a high-ranking member of the church, all because David Miscavige told him to, and I’m sure it boosts the little man’s ego to kick someone around for pleasure.

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Nicolle Wallace, political commentator on MSNBC and NBC News, on Ivanka and her emails:

"So, in politics, karma kicks in more quickly than in other walks of life. And it turns out that 'lock her up' chant for Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email account just might backfire on the _____ family, specifically on Ivanka."

Wouldn’t it be loverly?

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Ivanka _____,  on her own email scandal:

“People who want to see it as the same see it as the same. The fact is that we all have private emails and personal emails to coordinate with our family. We all receive content to those emails and there’s no prohibition from using private email as long as it’s archived and as long as there’s nothing in it that’s classified.[And] in my case all of my emails are on the White House server. There’s no intent to circumvent and there were mass deletions after a subpoena was issued. My emails have not been deleted, nor was there anything of substance, nothing confidential that was within them. So there’s no connection between the two things.”

Except, the feckless lying …used her personal email to send hundreds of messages involving government business in a violation of federal rules.

So, yeah, you con artist grifter criminal liar, it is the same thing, and with the Democrats coming to Congress your days are numbered.

Feckless lying …

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Lloyd Russell-Moyle, member of the British Parliament, announcing to the House of Commons that he is HIV-positive  ahead of the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day, December 1:

“Such events are also deeply personal to me. Next year I will be marking an anniversary of my own—10 years since I became HIV positive. It has been a long journey, from the fear of acceptance and today, hopefully, advocacy, knowing that my treatment keeps me healthy and protects any partner that I may have. When you get that call from the clinic and they just say: ‘You need to come in.’ They don’t tell you the details, and you know immediately that something is going to be wrong … So all the different worst case scenarios flash through your mind… At the same time you are working out all the ways that this is some joke, some technical error, some tiny thing that they’re going to tell you that you’re going to be laughing about later on … and then they tell you and it hits you like a wall…Nothing quite prepares you for when they say those words … You walk out feeling totally numb, with a million things going through your mind, and at the same time a sense of absolute nothingness. [So] wanted to be able to stand here in this place and say to those who are living with HIV that their status does not define them. We can be whoever we want to be, and to those who have not been tested, maybe because of fear, I say to you: it is better to live in knowledge than to die in fear.”

Funny, nearly forty years in and we still have this kind of stigma with so many men, and women, living, and thriving, with HIV.

Good on Russell-Moyle for speaking out.

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Random Musings

So, anti-abortion activist Randall Terry is claiming that he has been receiving death threats from someone in a Texas town not far from the Geller shootings:

"Coincidence? God knows."

And so now, because it’s the new ‘It’ thing to do, Terry has started a GoFundMe to raise $200,000 to protect himself and his family from these Muslims.

Seriously? A money beg?

Sidenote: I was flipped off the other day by a hillbilly in a pickup, so I’ve started my own GoFundMe page to help raise some money for therapy to get over it; and by ‘therapy,’ I mean tequila so I only need about thirty bucks … Help me!

This is rich …

There’s an outbreak of Chlamydia at a high school in the Crane Independent School District in Texas that has forced administrators to send a warning notes home to parents. As of now, there are twenty reported cases of the STD, meaning that 1 in 15 students at the school is infected.

Talk about an STD Petri dish, but I digress …

What’s really rich about this story is that the high school offers a three-day sexual education course once a year that emphasizes abstinence but that Crane ISD "does not offer a curriculum in human sexuality.

So they don’t tell kids how to protect themselves should they have sex, they just tell them not to have sex, and then keep their STD doctors on speed dial when the Chlamydia Outbreak occurs.

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Well, this week, after returning from Miami, we took Carlos’ car in to have that pesky engine light checked and it turned out that it was a bad gas cap that affected the sensors in the gas tank and flicked on the light. But then my car needed some servicing, too, after having 1500 miles put on her in a week, and so she went in for some new rotors and pads — whatever that means — and that was another added expense.

Then there was MaxGoldberg.

One night, while getting ready to go to sleep, Max came onto the bed and sat by my head. He kept twisted his head and licking the inside of his mouth — if you’ve ever seen Grimm and seen a hexenbiest change, you know how Max looked.

Well, I thought nothing about it; food caught in his teeth maybe, but the next morning, after his breakfast, he was still doing it, and then drooling a lot, and then drooling blood. Off the vet — funny side note: MaxGoldberg in the cat carrier, howling so loudly that he sounded like a police siren — and it was determined that one of Max’s fangs had bent and every time he closed his mouth it was gutting his tongue and gums; it was also determined that the other fang was loose and might do the same damage.

Now, MaxGoldberg is fang-less; healing nicely, but fang-less.

Other Sidenote: how lucky am I to have Carlos because the vet called with the diagnosis and the cost of tooth extraction and sedation and blahblahblah and quoted a price well over $700! Carlos shrieked, and said he wouldn’t pay that and in an instant the price suddenly dropped to a hair over $400.

I would have never thought to bargain; I would have forked over my credit card and then maybe thought about not eating for a month to pay that bill.

Four-hundred is still a lot of money, but Max is one of our babies and well worth it.

So, I love me some BBC America, and this week I tuned into Ripper Street, sort of a police procedural that takes place in Whitechapel, in London, around the time of Jack Attacks.

Now, the show isn’t about The Ripper, just about that area, but it does star a couple of hotties: Matthew Macfadyen as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, and Adam Rothenberg as Captain Homer Jackson, a flamboyantly dressing American doctor.

So far one episode in, I’m liking the show and, as always, the Man Candy.

Another MaxGoldberg Sidenote:

I was still at work when Carlos picked Max up that night, but I called home to see how he was doing. No answer. I figured they weren’t home yet, so I waited and called another time …

Well, actually, I called nine times in forty-five minutes.

Carlos wondered if I would call the house that mush if it was him coming home from the hospital.

I wondered about that, too …

I’m just gonna say it: People are stupid.

I mean, how else do you explain that when the story broke that an aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was pleading guilty in Bridge Gate that all hell would break loose because of the headline:

“Christie Ally Expected To Plead Guilty”

Twitter exploded with the news that Kirstie Alley was going to jail.

Seriously; people are dumb.

Well, I kinda already knew this …

Irish men have just been voted the Sexiest Men In The World according to MissTravel.com, a US-based travel and dating website.

In second place, but trailing by over 1,000 votes were Australians, followed by Pakistani men, American men and English men.

I could ‘a told y’all that … case in point:

[Colin Farrell, Hugh Jackman]

First we had Marco Rubio announcing his run at the White House with an ode to Game of Thrones and now Scott Walker is channeling a little Star Wars — dubbing himself Scottwalker — as he readies for his ill-fated campaign.

Seriously? Grown-assed men, running for the highest office in the land, channeling TV shows as their jump-off point?

Grow the eff up already.

Carlos and I are being sued. Oy! And, well, it seriously looks like we’re going to lose because the facts in the case are irrefutable: we’re homosexuals.

See, an Omaha woman, sixty-six-year-old Sylvia Driskell, who says she is an ambassador for God and the Baby Jeebus, is suing all homosexuals and is asking a federal judge to decide whether homosexuality is a sin.

Driskell contends “that homosexuality is a sin and that they [The Homosexuals] know it is a sin” because “why else would they have been hiding in the closet(?)”

Oh lordy, someone needs to lay hands on this woman and it looks like it is that federal judge, John Gerrad, because he has refused to allow Sylvia to be a legal spokestool for God and his son, Jesus Christ.

Whoosh! Time to put that cash back in the bank accounts!

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Some Thoughts On Tony

Loyal ISBL readers know that I am a proud Awards Show Whore®. I watch them all, from Emmy to Tony to Oscar and Grammy; hell, I even watch the Daytime Emmys. If the television industry wants me to watch, put the word "awards" the title and I'll be glued to my set.

The Scandal Awards. 

The Modern Family Awards. 

The Project Runway: Awards.

The FoxNews Awards....okay, so it doesn't work all the time. Still, I'll be there.

And last night was the gayest awards show of all, The Tony Awards; and I don’t call it gay just because it’s Broadway, but because it’s one of the few, maybe the only, awards show where the winners who just happen to be gay actually kiss their partners/spouses/lovers on the way up to the stage and then thank them in a lovely speech.

So, let’s rip …. with random thoughts ...

Hugh Jackman and his Huge Ackman, Seriously, is there anything this man cannot do? His hopping opening had me tired before he even got into the building and then he sings and dances and taps and, yeah, raps, and tells jokes, and, well, is just beautiful to look at, though I could do without the beard. No shade on the gay rumors, I meant the actual facial hair. I like my Hugh clean shaven.

Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight showed all those younger divas how it’s done, and done right.

Les Miserables was up for Best Revival; I didn’t know it had ever gone away …

James Monroe Iglehart brought the house down in a  number from Aladdin — right before he won a Tony for the role — but I was kinda busy looking at Adam Jacobs’, as Aladdin, abs.

Clint Eastwood. Why? Broadway and Eastwood? Plus, man did he seem old and disoriented.

Fran Drescher? Seriously. Oh, she was on Broadway, signing, no less, this Spring in Cinderella. No, she’s the evil stepmother.

Jonathan Groff — cute and gay — steps out to introduce Idina Menzel singing a song from her Tony-nominated role in If/Then and does the perfect impression of Travolta at the Oscars with “the wickedly talented” Idina Menzel; yes, he got the name right.

Sting — a favorite of mine ... a friend and I once saw him in concert seven times in eight days at six different venues — was on to present a song from his upcoming musical he wrote, The Last Ship. I.Love.Sting. I did not like this song. I mean, if you want me to come see this thing, don’t give sad and drab musical numbers, give me something to excite me.

Like … say … Alan Cumming reprising his role as the Emcee in the remounting of the revival of the original musical Cabaret. I remember when he first appeared on Broadway in that role back in 1998 and it seemed kind of risqué and shocking. Times have changed and now it seems, well, still sexy, but kind of quaint.

I have a wee crush on Mister Cumming because he's openly gay, a happily married man and has the most delicious Scottish accent ... and I am a sucker for a man with an accent.

The scene they chose to use from Rocky: The Musical might have been better if it featured an actual song? Just sayin’. But ... a New Hottie Alert goes out to Andy Karl, who stars in Rocky; The Musical. He's like a younger, more smoldering Dylan McDermott.

Kenneth Branagh, unlike Hugh Jackman, was hotter with his beard, and again, facial hair, people.

Patricia Clarkson presented with Bradley Cooper and Alessandro Nivola, and I kept thinking I’d like to be the meat in the sandwich … minus Clarkson, though.

Now, i have nothing against Miss Clarkson, in fact, she's one of my favorite actresses — see Far from Home  — but, c'mon, she is kinda the odd, er, man out in that threesome, you know.

RuPaul came out in male drag to introduce NPH performing from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I don’t think it was lost on anyone who’s been paying attention to TrannyGate that he used the word transgender last night. That said, NPH was fantastic as Hedwig; tour de force performance. Fun and edgy; and the kiss he laid on his husband, David Burtka, was hot. Plus, later on NPH won as best Actor in a Musical, so it was tres gay!

My Hot Gay Alert Alarm sounded when Matt Bomer and Zachary Quinto appeared together looking all cute and sexy and gay.

It was almost like a dream I once had where Matt, Zach and I … we … um … yeah .. I think it best if I just leave it at that, and then hope I get that dream again.

Audra McDonald — one of my all-time favorite singers and actresses — won a history making sixth Tony Award for her portrayal of one of mu other favorite singers, Billie Holiday, in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. 

She is truly an amazingly talented singer and actress.

And Jennifer Hudson sang a song from an upcoming musical Finding Neverland. I don’t know if JHud is going to be in it, but someone needs to get that girl in a Broadway musical and fast. That is a show-stopping voice if there ever was one and Broadway could use her.

And there you have it, the high points, at least in my shallow Broadway-loving, show-tune-singing, Huge-Ackman-craving mind. It was very gay, and very gay, and fabulous and fun and entertaining. Hugh was fantastic; not as wild and crazy and madcap as NPH, but, man, singing, dancing, joking, and looking hot? He's the total package with a total package. As Ethel Merman might have sung, had she seen him:

♪ ♫ Who could ask for anything more! ♪ ♫

Best Musical "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Best Revival of a Musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"

Leading Actor in a Musical Neil Patrick Harris, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"

Leading Actress in a Musical Jesse Mueller, "Beautiful -- The Carole King Musical"

Best Featured Actress in a Musical Lena Hall, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"

Best Featured Actor in a Musical James M. Iglehart, "Aladdin"

Best Direction of a Musical Darko Tresnjak, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Best Play "All the Way"

Best Revival of a Play "A Raisin in the Sun"

Leading Actress in a Play Audra McDonald, "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill"

Leading Actor in a Play Bryan Cranston, "All the Way"

Best Featured Actor in a Play Mark Rylance, "Twelfth Night"

Best Featured Actress in a Play Sophie Okonedo, "A Raisin in the Sun"

Best Direction of a Play Kenny Leon, "A Raisin in the Sun"